Trust in the Community
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 21st, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The past two years I have become keenly aware of how difficult it is to be a self-published author. The term “self-published” is often used and misunderstood because major components of the publishing industry, including publishers, have been successful in attaching “poor quality” to the term “self-published.” I prefer the term Independent Author because I feel it best describes the decision many authors have made to publish on their own.
Being an Independent Author is hard, doors slam and there are plenty of “do not enter” signs, which is the reason many Independent Writers give up in their quest to sell books. The fact that someone decides to become an Independent Author does not mean their writing is not good enough, even if they have been rejected in one form or another and eventually made the decision to publish Independently. It has nothing to do with “settling” for that form of publishing.
Many Independent Authors feel strongly that their pay-for-printing publisher does not care whether they sell a single copy of their book, their profit is made when the printing begins. These authors cite instances where messages are sent proclaiming, “Buy this and add another service and you will sell books,” only to find the statement hollow and without merit or success. In the end the only thing the Independent Author has is each other. Information from other parties is treated with skepticism and mistrust.
The hope for reclaiming some of that trust, while exposing Independent writing to the reading public is through banding together as a single community of Independent Writers and Authors, speaking with one voice. Authors creating their own market for readers looking for new voices and interesting stories. As an Independent Writer and Author you’ve got to trust that this community will be an opportunity for the Independent Writer and Author to sell books and gain respectability in the marketplace they so richly deserve.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
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